If you were a publisher would you give Apple a 50% cut?

The logic: "Small piece of a big pie is better than a large piece of a small pie" is what Apple is using to convince publishers to get on board with its Apple News digital subscription. The pros of having a large user base of casual readers, who otherwise wouldn't bother subscribing, sounds too good to pass up for smaller publications. Perhaps not so for the established players like New York Times which posted strong digital subscription growth last quarter.

Just like Spotify made it so easy to enjoy listening to music, so does Apple News would make reading news more enjoyable. The elephant in the room is whether Apple can convince big players to join. If it can't then the value of subscribing just isn't that appealing.

Am I wrong? Who do you think would get the most benefit out of this deal: Apple, publishers or readers?